Perfect form: Memorial men claim AUS curling championship

The Telegram

Published: Feb 13 at midnight

Updated: Sep 30 at 6:39 a.m.

The Memorial Sea-Hawks curling team of (from left) coach Gary Ryan, skip Adam Boland, third Stephen Trickett, second Zach Young and lead Evan Kearley hold the championship banner after claiming the Atlantic University Sports men’s crown Sunday in Truro, N.S.

Adam Boland and his Memorial University foursome made Newfoundland curling history Sunday, becoming the first team from this province to win an official Atlantic University Sport conference title.

Boland, Stephen Trickett, Zach Young and Evan Kearley — coached by Gary Ryan — scored five in the third end and coasted to a 10-5, eight-end win over a Dalhousie University rink skipped by Robert Mayhew.
Memorial has enjoyed curling success in the past — Colin Thomas won the CIS national title in St. John’s back in 2011, and Erin Porter took the women’s Atlantic crown the next year — but the championship won by Boland and company this past weekend is the first official AUS crown.
The 2015 tournament marked the first year that the AUS and Curl Atlantic teamed up to stage a championship event that was sanctioned by the university sports body.
The Sea-Hawks’ women’s team was not as fortunate as the men, as Rebecca Roberts and her team of Sarah Ford, Jessica Fleming and Stephanie Nadeau, with Wallace Gregory as coach, failed to win a game in six tries.
In Truro, N.S., the Memorial men ran the table, going 6-0 in the round-robin before posting a pair of playoff wins.
The Boland team, runner-up to Brad Gushue in the recent Tankard provincial men’s championship, downed Christopher Gallant 8-5 in the semifinals.
With the win, the Boland rink will represent the Atlantic conference at the 2017 U Sports/CCA championship hosted by Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., March 19-22.